antenna do you recommend?

el_brento · 20-Aug-2011, 3:45 AM

Can't decide on an antenna, was wanting to get as many channels as possible. Which antenna do you think will work the best? Here is my report http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...9e748be8e79def

John Candle · 22-Aug-2011, 6:29 AM

Is this a , house , condo , apt. , mobile home , motor home or ect. , How many Tv's are/will be connected??

GroundUrMast · 22-Aug-2011, 7:57 AM

If your goal is to receive as many stations as possible, you need to choose a high gain antenna, it's that simple. Mounting high, and free of buildings, trees and other obstructions will almost always pay in greater signal strength and quality.

A combination UHF/high-VHF antenna that fits the criteria of high gain is the Winegard HD7698P. It's high-VHF performance (real channels channels 7 through 13) beats the performance of the best consumer grade cut-to-band antennas by about 2 dB. It's UHF performance is about 2 dB less than the best consumer grade UHF-only antennas. (Antennas Direct XG-91 and Winegard HD9095P)

Because KETA-PBS, real channel 13, is so weak, I would be uncomfortable suggesting an antenna with less high-VHF gain than the HD7698P. KOCO-ABC is also quite weak and would need a high performance antenna to be seen.

A good low-noise preamp such as the Antennas Direct CPA-19 would be needed.

Your answer to John's questions will determine whether a rotator or a multiple antenna installation is better for you. In homes with two or more TV's, rotators will be a source of conflict when the antenna needs to point in more than one direction at the same time.

John Candle · 22-Aug-2011, 7:55 PM

Is this a , house , condo , apt. , mobile home , motor home , or etc. ?? How many Tv's will be connected??

el_brento · 27-Aug-2011, 3:03 AM

Its for a house, probably going to mount it on my chimmney.Thanks

el_brento · 27-Aug-2011, 3:04 AM

just one tv will be connected

John Candle · 27-Aug-2011, 4:37 AM

Ok you have easy to receive Tv stations. You will not be needing to receive KETA PBS 13's main signal because Oklahoma has Extensive Repeater Network thru out the state the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority. K36AB 36 PBS is easy to receive. KOCO-TV 7 ABC need not be received because KSWO-DT 11 ABC is easy to receive. . This will be a 2 antenna set up. Antenna #1 , Winegard HD7694P antenna with No preamp aimed at 181 degree magnetic compass. Antenna #2 Antenna Craft U4000 with No preamp aimed at 92 degrees magnetic compass. Here is how to aim antennas , http://www.kyes.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html. . A separate RG-6U coax will go from each antenna to the Tv location where the separate coaxes will be connected to a Remote Control A/B antenna switch , model number AB27RS or radio shack 15-1968. and the output of the A/B switch is connected to the Tv. . Here are places to buy antennas and ect. , http://www.solidsignal.com , http://www.starkelectronic.com , http://www.amazon.com , http://www.3starinc.com.

John Candle · 27-Aug-2011, 4:40 AM

Here are some antenna mounts , http://www.ronard.com/909911.html , http://www.ronard.com/34424560.html , http://www.ronard.com/ychim.html .

John Candle · 27-Aug-2011, 12:25 PM

Read and understand about , REAL Digital Broadcast Tv Channels , Virtual Digital Broadcast Tv Channels , Analog Broadcast Tv Channels , http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=695 . Here are some but not all free Tv guides , http://www.zap2it.com , http://tv.yahoo.com , http://www.titantv.com , http://www.tvzap.com , http://television.aol.com , http://tv.entertainment.excite.com . Most Tv guides list the channel numbers as the Virtual Tv channel numbers.

el_brento · 27-Aug-2011, 4:40 PM

Hey Candle, if i was wanting to use just one antenna which one would you recommend and which way should i point it?

John Candle · 27-Aug-2011, 9:45 PM

An easy answer , Winegard HD7694P , the antenna receives VHF high channels 7 thru 13 and UHF channels 14 thru 69. You can point the antenna at the south group of Tv stations or the east group of Tv stations and decide for your self what group of Tv stations to leave the antenna pointed at.

John Candle · 28-Aug-2011, 12:35 AM

With the HD7694P antenna pointed to the south you might be able to receive the stations to the east on the 'side of antenna' with some careful antenna adjustment. ' Turning the antenna so as to not lose the south Tv stations and also receive the east Tv stations , but I can not garantee that it can be done. You can give it a try.

el_brento · 28-Aug-2011, 3:59 AM

Ok, thanks for your help.

ve2dc · 28-Aug-2011, 3:33 PM

The advice to buy a high gain antenna needs a caveat. If you are not using a rotator, too much gain can be a problem. Gain is achieved by narrowing the beamwidth and improving front to back. The higher the gain, the poorer the performance off axis. Sometimes a bigger antenna is not a better solution. However, if you can point it, bigger is always better.

John Candle · 28-Aug-2011, 5:05 PM

What ve2dc says is true , however there is no advice here of a 'high gain' antenna.

ve2dc · 28-Aug-2011, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Candle

What ve2dc is true , however there is no advice here by a 'high gain' antenna.

Gain is relative. That antenna would have been too much in my application. What I ended up using cost the princely sum of $18 and worked much better than the larger antenna I had been using. The antenna I chose had one element each on the VHF bands so was perfect as I wanted to have bidirectional coverage on VHF and the UHF was relatively broad. However, the local ABC transmitter moved to VHF from UHF and I have to now change it as it now doesn't have enough gain on VHF. Anyway, my dirt cheap antenna was the perfect solution for a multi-TV setup for the last 10 years ;-) But you are right, that antenna would be medium gain.